Jan Akkerman has to be my one of my favourite musicians of all time. I guess I should have called this The Jan Akkerman appreciation thread but I didn`t. Unbeknownst to many he has guested on literally dozens of albums and played with numerous musicians from BB King to Paco DeLucia. He`s put out a few duds ( example : Jan Akkerman 3 ) but his versatility and diversity goes unmatched by any guitarist. Let`s hear it for The Dutch Master !!!!

You'll get no argument from me. Jan Akkerman is as good as any guitarist in rock, any.

BLASPHEMY!!

Why is it blasphemy? He is unfeasibly talented. As fast as (if not faster than when he chooses to be) the speed merchants like Vai, Satriani, Malmsteen, S**tbag (Sorry, Dimebag) Darrell et al, he has technique in spades and the ability to produce interesting solos that actually sound good.

You'll get no argument from me. Jan Akkerman is as good as any guitarist in rock, any.

BLASPHEMY!!

Why is it blasphemy? He is unfeasibly talented. As fast as (if not faster than when he chooses to be) the speed merchants like Vai, Satriani, Malmsteen, S**tbag (Sorry, Dimebag) Darrell et al, he has technique in spades and the ability to produce interesting solos that actually sound good.

No, he's up there with the very best!

Then, there was a semantic issue by me .... surely I misunderstood the statement posted by Dwill. I though he was meant to put Akkerman as part of the bunch of the average rock guitar player (as good as any), when he's IMO in the first league. That's it

Jan Akkerman has to be my one of my favourite musicians of all time. I guess I should have called this The Jan Akkerman appreciation thread but I didn`t. Unbeknownst to many he has guested on literally dozens of albums and played with numerous musicians from BB King to Paco DeLucia. He`s put out a few duds ( example : Jan Akkerman 3 ) but his versatility and diversity goes unmatched by any guitarist. Let`s hear it for The Dutch Master !!!!

What I really want to know is.......what do you really think of Oil In The Family?

Not bad for disco Akkerman. In fact if I were strapped down and forced to listen to disco and had a choice...

Does anyone know where I can get an English version ( subtitled ) version of the Dutch television special from earlier this year. I watched the whole thing but couldn`t understand it.

No sorry, but I can tell you something about what I saw. It was a very good tv special. It showed how unique Jan Akkerman was, and I was surprised that he was still so progressive, doing collaborations with people you wouldn't expect, contributing unusual musical ideas which show that he still has the progressive attitude.

The special also showed some great archives material, with Brainbox and Focus, and during his solo career. You could see him at work in his own studio.

There was a tv series, some 10 years ago, called " Special albums", which had specials about famous Dutch albums like Royal Bed Bouncer by Kayak, and Focus II (a.k.a. Moving Waves) by Focus. I taped the Kayak special, but sometimes I wished I taped the Focus special as well.

The Akkerman special did show something of that early material, e.g. from the castle where Focus was developing the music for Moving Waves, and except for the musical side of Akkerman, it also showed his stubbornness, which is good for progressive music, but is sometimes difficult for the people he worked with . Like the famous (infamous?) tv show from 1974 where he was about to pick up his Edison (Dutch music award), and left the studio early, before he had to come on out to pick up his award, because he thought someone in the studio orchestra cracked a joke at his expense. Or the time when some of his band members (from a solo tour) made some remarks about his driving abilities, and the next morning at their breakfast found out that Jan had already gone to the next gig, without them, and had left a note, saying that Jan had already left because the band members surely wouldn't be in a car which he drove

And about his difficult relationship with Thijs van Leer. Jan wanted to make something clear. He still is very proud of his work with Focus (journalists usually are afraid to ask Jan about Focus, because they're afraid he gets angry): he still has very good memories about the music, but on a personal level he couldn't relate to Thijs van Leer anymore. The musical relationship was strained. Too bad

Akkerman is one of the best guitar players that I know. For me he's in the same league as Steve Howe and Steve Hackett.

Jan Akkerman has to be my one of my favourite musicians of all time. I guess I should have called this The Jan Akkerman appreciation thread but I didn`t. Unbeknownst to many he has guested on literally dozens of albums and played with numerous musicians from BB King to Paco DeLucia. He`s put out a few duds ( example : Jan Akkerman 3 ) but his versatility and diversity goes unmatched by any guitarist. Let`s hear it for The Dutch Master !!!!

What I really want to know is.......what do you really think of Oil In The Family?

Not bad for disco Akkerman. In fact if I were strapped down and forced to listen to disco and had a choice...

I reviewed it here check it out. That should explain what i think of Oil In The Family. The only Akkerman album I would recommend for skeet shooting would be the atrocious Jan Akkerman 3.

The first one, To Oz and Back is mediocre but The Talisman really smokes. They do a great Deep Purple medley of Black Knight / Strange Kind Of Woman. I don`t think it is currently available but the Talisman is definitely worth checking out if you can find it.

Akkerman is certainly one of the best guitarists ever !! I would also like to mention the album he recorded with Brainbox. It features some excellent heavy, bluesy, proggy, psychedelic, folky material.

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